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B. W. TRENHOLM. HOLDBAGK FOR VEHICLES.

Patented Oct. 11, 1887.

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s ceive one fold of the back-strap 6 between 'signed and constructed the holdbackiron rep .a plane substantially parallel with the base UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA W. TRENHOLM, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO FREDERICK BIGALOVV, OF SAME PLACE.

HOLID'BACK FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,229, dated October 11, 1887.

Application filed May 511, 1887. Serial No. 238.944. (No moth-l.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, EZRA W. TRENHOLM, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented a new' and useful Holdback-Iron, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to holdbackirons employed in vehicles to receive the holdbackstrap of the harness.

The object of this invention is to produce at a small cost a reliable holdback-iron, to which the back-strap of the harness may be connected and disconnected without buckling or unbuckling the strap. and in which the strap is made self-detachable in case of accidental detachment of the tugs or draft-straps 0f the harness; and to this end I have deresented in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is an isometrical under-face representation of my improved holdback-iron in place on the under face of a thill, with a portion of the holdbaek-strap of the harness in place thereon. Fig. 2 is an under-face representation of a modification of my improved holdback-iron in isometric-a1, in place on the under face of a thill, and in this figure the holdback-strap is omitted.

My improved holdbackiron consists of a base-plate, 1, a hook, 2., and a detent, 3. The base-plate 1 is made to engage the under face of the thill a, to which it is securely fixed by means of screws passed through the base-plate into the thill, or rivets or bolts may be employed to it in place. The hook portion 2 is designed to receive the back-strap of the harness, is made with an oblique shoulder, 5, depending from the forward end of the baseplate, and is i nclined rearwardinwardly, from which shoulder portion it extends forward in the outward curving hook form shown, andin plate, or with the under face of the thill to which it is fixed, forming a space between the hook and thill, when in place thereon, to rehehook and the thill, as shown in Fig. l.

The detent 3 consists of a stud fixed to the thill centrally opposite the concave side of the hook 2,suiiiciently removed therefrom to freely receive the back-strap between it and the hook, but in a manner to prevent its accidental dis placement.

Instead of the indcpendentdetent, as shown in Fig. l, I also construct my improved holdbaek as shown in Fig. 2, in which the detent 3 is connected with the base by means of an extension, 7, projecting from the shoulder portion 5.

In the use of my improved holdback-irou the back'strap, when once adjusted to the required length. can be connected to the holdback-iron by slipping its loop over the forward end of the hook inside of the detent,and can be disengaged therefrom by a forward swinging movement. without buckling or unbuckling the strap.

If from any cause the animal becomes detached from the singletree, his forward movement will detach the back-strap from the holdback irons and free him from the vehicle.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a holdback iron, the combination, with a base-plate having a depending portion to carry it away from the surface of the thill, and a hook portion extending in laterallycurved form in a plane substantially parallel with the surfaceof the thill, of a detent depending from the plane of the base-plate at a point about midway of the hook portion, substantiall y as set forth.

2. In a holdback'iron, a base-plate, detent, and hook formed in a single piece, the hook extending laterally and forwardly in a plane substantially parallel with the baseplate and connected therewith by a laterally oblique depending shoulder the detent being located opposite the central portion of the hook, the whole constructed and arranged substantially as set forth.

- EZRA IV. TRENHOLM.

\Vitnesses:

F. BIGALOW, J AOOB BEHEL. 

